A quickie...

No, I have not dropped off the face of the earth again.  Charlie's fine despite trying to convince me he broke his leg (seriously, he's fine - a little ice goes a long way!).  The job hunt has been taking up just about all of my time and fingers crossed, it's about to pay-off.  I have a final on-site interview for the job I really want on Tuesday and another final interview for my very close second choice a week from Monday.  All your happy job thoughts seem to be paying off so if you could just send a few more good thoughts our way, Charlie and I would greatly appreciate it!

Excuse the dirty nose...

Life ticks on

Not a whole bunch has happened in the last two weeks.  Charlie lost a shoe (only his second of the summer!) and it took me a few days to get him to The Farrier.  **Just incase everyone's forgotten because it has been almost a year since I blogged - I have to take Charlie to The Farrier who lives about 1.5 hrs away in the Tryon area.  He's totally worth it!  Not only is The Farrier awesome at his job, he's super interesting to talk to - lots of cool stories (he's from the SF Bay area and went to farrier school in Ireland!)** After going to The Farrier, I had to work - boo!  And then I had school work - double boo!

I've been able to ride the last couple of days and it's been glorious!  The weather has finally chilled out - literally and figuratively.  I scored some boots for Charlie in my first ever Facebook group purchase - CWD Equifit leather open fronts with matching hinds.  Basically brand-new!  They're lovely.  Sigh…

Love them!  He looks so classy except for the chewed up left front where someone decided losing a shoe along with half his foot was a good idea...

I feel like fall is finally in the air - this past weekend it didn't get above 65.  Heaven!  And while that's a little cool for this time of the year and we've already bounced back up into the high 70s, I'll take it.  Fall is here!

A little unsure of the 65 degree weather with gale force winds!

Considering how little he's been schooled lately, Charlie has been wonderful.  I've been working a lot on the walk when I do ride and really focusing on pushing him into the bridle with my leg and seat.  He doesn't like it but we're slowly but surely getting there.  One thing I really struggle with is knowing when he's truly straight so while we've been walking (and walking), I've been practicing keeping both legs on to try and keep his hiny aligned with his shoulders.  Somedays are better than others…

I'm a little stressed (ok, a lot stressed) because between work, school, and the reserves, I'm looking for a new job.  One that pays better and has better advancement opportunities so keep your fingers crossed for us as this definitely affects the pony too!

Truly MIA...

I never really meant to take a break, it just kind of happened.  And I became one of those bloggers I hate - ok, hate's a little strong but you get what I'm saying.  Nothing bad has happened unless you count having to write 50 million papers on stuff I've already written papers on.  Let's just say school, life, work, etc got in the way and blogging wasn't really a priority.  I still read everyone's blogs - I love living vicariously through others!

So the catch-up - winter was good and bad.  Good because I spent lots of time in Southern Pines and Aiken but bad because it rained just about every other day and when it wasn't raining, it was snowing.  Yes, snowing.  In South Carolina.  What the heck?!?!  We went to a few shows where Wonderpony was wonderful (some things never change) and he got to frolic with his best friend, Alex.

Winning! In Southern Pines.

They love each other - Charlie is on the left…

Then I got caught-up in a bunch of stuff for the Navy.  Lot's of training in VA which while good money, left Charlie doing nothing in SC.  One good thing of going to VA (besides the money!) was reconnecting with an old friend who I hadn't seen in 10 yrs.  Abby lived right on the beach (she has since moved back to the Washington, D.C. area) so I thought it would be a great idea to take a mini-vacay there in June.

Seriously, this is right out Abby's back door.  It was amazing!

After going to VA Beach, it seemed like the barn owner's were gone non-stop and I was left taking care of the farm.  We all know how much I love the heat so needless to say, not a whole lot of riding going on as all my energy was consumed taking care of the farm.

I did ride a few times though!

I went through a really tough spot this summer.  I thought very seriously about selling Charlie.  Honestly, I'm 35, not married (and not entirely sure I ever will be - don't worry, I'm totally ok with this), and I don't make a ton of money - sometimes I feel horribly irresponsible having a horse when I should be using that money to save for a down payment on a house (don't really want one of these either) or something else equally boring.  I'm also contemplating grad school and having Charlie sometimes makes me feel trapped.  Kinda like having a kid except I feel fairly certain Charlie is more fun. ;)  Then I decided no way could I sell so maybe I should just look for some sort of free lease situation.  I traveled down this road a fair way, even going so far as to talk to a potential leasee. Then I went to visit Cherie in PA.

Riding among the corn in Chester County, PA.

Cherie was willing to help me sell or lease Charlie, whatever I decided.  Her husband was on the sell bandwagon - he made me cry at dinner one night and again when we were talking in the barn (he was just being honest - not mean).  I had already decided no to selling and was pretty much ok with the lease-thing until Cherie made a comment that Charlie may not come back the way I let him go - meaning his personality may change.  His personality is the reason I love him so much.  Once she said that, I knew he wasn't going anywhere.  While it might not be the smartest financial decision, it is the smartest health decision I've ever made.  Who needs to retire anyway, right?

Love this face!

So I've taken the pressure off myself from a riding standpoint.  I'l ride when I can and enjoy petting his pretty nose when I can't and not feel guilty about wasting an uber talented horse.  I'm a little bummed that I'm not doing more with him but he doesn't care so why should I?  I'm going to try to blog more - I guess I feel sometimes like what's the point, we don't do anything interesting unless you count our trips to the farrier (who by the way is seriously AWESOME!) but I will try to do better.  I love reading about everyone else's journey no matter where they are going so I guess some folks may like reading about our meanderings.

Shiny!

Charlie has had a wonderful summer - he's fat (as in borderline obese), shiny, healthy, and most importantly happy.  And so am I.